


Forget the Air (I'll Breathe You Instead)

by writtenonyourwrists



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Wanda the Stranger Plant, also i have no idea how flats work in britain so im sorry, also some face-fucking and face-riding, enjoy, fluff like cotton candy, involves penises and bumholes and tongues, jsyk, some smut, zayn and liam arent really in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 13:23:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3121766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtenonyourwrists/pseuds/writtenonyourwrists
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Harry and Louis are neighbours with an adjoining balcony. Featuring Wanda the Stranger Plant, a scheming Niall, Earth's many moons, and some ridiculousness before happiness, like how it always is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forget the Air (I'll Breathe You Instead)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was way longer than I thought it would be, but.
> 
> In case you didn't read the tags, I have no idea how flats in Britain work, so I am sorry if this is incredibly off the mark! 
> 
> The title is taken from the poem "The Absence of Oxygen" and I hope you enjoy this work of fiction.
> 
> *emphasis on the word _fiction_ *

There was a potted plant on Louis's balcony.

Now that wouldn't have been weird if Zayn and Louis  _had_  any plants, but seeing as they didn't, a withered, shrivelled up looking dead thing in a yellow pot on his balcony was a rather strange thing to walk up to. 

And it wasn't like anyone could just drop the pot in anyway, considering the fact that they lived on the fourth floor. So that plant must have either been Zayn's or someone must have broken into their flat, just to give them a potted plant. 

Actually, judging by how yellow the leaves were and how the plant looked like it just might fly away with the November wind, the plant might have really been Zayn's. 

Louis sighed. Zayn would have told him if he had bought a plant. And he would have definitely told him before he went up north to look after it if it was indeed his. But Louis's skills when it came to taking care after plants matched Zayn's. It was why they didn't have any plants at all, their balcony bare except for the matching wooden chair and table set Zayn had found in an alley their first summer there. 

Louis remembered how Zayn and him had sat on the floor of the balcony for hours when they first moved in, the silence between them comfortable as they let the fact that this was their first flat- such a big step into the real world- sink in. But that was three years ago, and Zayn wasn't here. Instead, he was back in Bradford, visiting his family, and would stay there for another week. 

So whose plant was it? Louis was brought back into reality by a gust of cool wind. Zayn would have told him earlier if it was his, especially since he had already been gone for four days. 

So he had absolutely no clue how it got there. He looked around his balcony, an instinctive motion to look for some clue on how it got there, or how to get rid of it or-

The door to the balcony besides his was closed firmly against the November wind, brown curtains protecting the room inside from prying eyes. There was a black metal chair and matching table on the wooden floor, making Louis shiver just from thinking of sitting down on the cool metal in this kind of weather.

His  _neighbour_ , of course, how could he have been so clueless? His neighbour must have accidentally put their plant on the floor of Louis's balcony instead of their own, and must have either been so drunk or high that they completely overlooked the metal barrier separating the two balconies.

And wasn't his neighbour new? Louis had never even seen them, had just seen their cardboard boxes lining the hallway a few days ago. That would make sense wouldn't it- a new neighbour, reaching too far to the left, placing their plant in the balcony besides their's. 

Louis walked closer to the pot, its yellow paint peeling off, revealing thin metal beneath it. He picked it up, the metal cold beneath his touch. Up close, the plant looked even more unsightly. Maybe Louis should introduce himself with a book that taught the reader how to take care of plants.

He placed it gently down on the ground of his neighbour's balcony.

 _There_ , Louis thought,  _all done_. He dusted off his hands and with one final glance at the potted plant and his neighbour's closed doors, he turned to walk back into his own flat, the cold wind already turning his fingers numb.

*

Niall came over the next day, greeting Louis by shoving a six pack into his chest and a loud "Ayyyyy, missed you, buddy."

Louis stepped back to let Niall in, hand reaching out to grab the bottles of beer. "I literally just saw you yesterday, mate." 

Niall shrugged, his blonde hair dusted with flecks of snow. "You didn't come over after work."

"Yeah, I've got loads to mark today." Louis sighed, thinking about the stack of papers sitting on his desk, his pen thrown carelessly over it after Louis had heard Niall's telling  _Tommo!_ through his front door. 

Niall winced in sympathy, plopping down on Louis's sofa and immediately spreading out obnoxiously. Louis rolled his eyes as he walked into the kitchen to get his bottle opener, his lips curving fondly. 

"Serves you right for becoming a teacher, innit."

Louis scoffed. "It's my  _calling_ , Niall." Niall laughed loudly. "We can't all be working in bars and busking in the day, now can we?" 

He strolled back out, two bottles in one hand, and his red bottle opener in the other. Niall withdrew his legs as Louis sat, only to stretch them out over his thighs. 

Niall sat up, his eyes still bright with laughter, and grabbed one of the bottles Louis had opened, clinking it against Louis's. "Nice plant you've got," he said, cackling. 

"What plant?"

Niall raised his eyebrows pointedly, gesturing to Louis's balcony. Louis turned, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

The same yellow pot with its only-its-mother-could-love-it plant greeted him, in the exact same position he had found it in the previous day. "What."

In all honesty, he had forgotten about the stranger plant, mind too filled with work, but now that he was once again staring at it, he was filled with even more confusion. 

How did it get back? Maybe his neighbour had placed it there by accident again? Although he thought it was rather incredible that his neighbour had made the same mistake twice, he stood up, pushing Niall's legs off him and placing his bottle on the coffe table. "It's not mine," he threw over his shoulder as he walked to his balcony, ready to brace the cold in his thin weave shirt. 

"Then whose is it?" He heard Niall say, his voice muffled by the wind. Fuck, it was cold, and the metal pot was even colder under his fingers. Quickly, he placed it on the same spot on his neighbour's balcony, and then he stuffed his numb fingers in the pockets of his joggers. 

"My neighbour's," he called back, and he walked hurriedly into the warmth of his living room. Niall had already started on Louis's bottle.

 _Just as well_ , Louis thought. He definitely didn't need a cold drink after the onslaught he had just faced. He shrugged to Niall's innocent eyebrows, and sat down. Niall got up immediately and walked to Louis's kitchen, and silently started to make Louis a cup of tea.

"There's a good lad," Louis said, smiling. 

Niall grunted, his fingers moving fast drumming on the counter as he waited for the kettle to boil. "What's your neighbour's plant doing on your balcony?"

Louis frowned and said, "Dunno. It was there yesterday as well. I reckon they've just been placing it on mine accidentally." 

"Twice?" Niall asked, eyebrows raised. "Why would they even want to move it?"

Louis shrugged. Niall hummed over the whistling kettle in answer. Louis watched him pour hot water into a mug, his fingers aching with the cold and the longing to hold that mug as soon as possible. 

Once Louis had taken a sip of his tea, his hands now warm and tongue numb with the heat, he turned to Niall- who had once again placed his legs over Louis's thighs- and asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Just visited a friend, thought I'd swing by since he lives so close to you."

"You have friends besides me, Zayn, and Liam?" Louis asked in mock surprise. Niall was actually the most sociable one of their little gang, what with being a bartender and his Irishness and his cheery demeanour and all.

Niall laughed anyway. "Fuck you."

"Mate, I appreciate the offer, but no thanks," Louis said.

Niall grinned, shrugging as he said, "Your loss."

Louis pushed his shoulder, causing some of the beer in the bottle he was holding to spill over his chin. " _My_  loss? Have you ever seen my arse, Niall?" Louis scoffed. " _My_  loss. As if."

Niall laughed even harder. 

They spent a while sitting like that, until Niall got up and wiped the condensation from the bottle onto his jeans. 

"Leaving?"

Niall nodded and yawned, arms stretched above his head. "Yeah, need to stop by the supermarket." 

That reminded Louis of the chores that he himself had to do alone since Zayn had left. Groaning, he stood up too, empty teacup in hand. "I'll walk with you. Gotta get mail." He took Niall's empty bottles of beer and threw them in the rubbish bin, and placed his teacup in the sink. 

He heard the door open and he turned to follow Niall out. "So where does this friend live?" He asked as they walked down the stairs.

Niall, for some reason, smirked at him over his shoulder. " _Really_  close. Like, walking distance."

Louis squinted his eyes at Niall's vague answer, but accepted it anyway. 

Niall hugged him as he said goodbye, his lips still curved into a smirk that made Louis raise his eyebrows questioningly. Niall just shrugged though, and walked out of the building into the night sky, immediately wincing as the brutal wind hit him. Louis grimaced in sympathy. 

He walked further down into the hallway, where the letter boxes were, his footsteps muffled by the carpet. 

When he finally reached the copper boxes, he was surprised to see another person there. He wasn't really sure why he was, considering there were lots of people who got mail everyday. 

But even from the back, Louis could tell the man standing in front of him was one hell of a something. He had broad shoulders, framed and accentuated very,  _very_  nicely with an expensive-looking coat. His hair was tied into a pretty little bun, flyaways at the top of their ears giving away their curly shape. And his  _legs_. His legs were long and shapely, covered by tight black jeans. 

Louis schooled his face into one of nonchalance and cleared his throat as he walked to his letter box, which was- fortunately- right next to the Attractive Stranger. 

Said stranger turned to look at him as he sidled up, and Louis's breath was taken away. He had been right to think the Stranger With The Back was one hell of a something. 

He had pretty green eyes, eyebrows thick and strong. His cheekbones were sharp, and so was his jaw, which lead down to a very smooth neck and collarbones that were exposed due to the fact that the first three buttons of their striped shirt was unbuttoned. In winter. Who was this person? 

And he had nice teeth too, white and neat as he shot a smile at Louis. And he had berry pink lips and fucking  _dimples_. Seriously, Louis wanted to get to know this person.

He grinned back, which only made the dimples in Very Very Pretty Stanger's cheeks more prominent. The stranger reached out the hand that wasn't holding onto his letters.

"Hi." His voice was velvet. "'M Harry."  
   
Louis took it and gave it a firm shake. "Louis." 

Colgate Model's-  _Harry's_ - smile seemed to light up even more, but Louis had a bit of trouble breathing at the moment, because the walking L'Oreal ad in front of him had  _paws_  for hands. They were massive when compared to Louis's, and that kinda took his breath away a bit.

Louis thought he saw Harry's hands twitch when they let go, but guessed that he had just imagined it. He turned to face his letter box, struggling to appear calm and collected as he failed to slot his key in correctly for the third time. 

Louis shot a quick glance at Harry to see if he had noticed how if it had taken him four tries to get his letter box open, and from the way Harry was biting his lip to keep a straight face, Louis sighed inwardly, knowing he had failed to appear casual. 

"I'll see you around, Louis," Harry said, and he fucking  _winked_  as he brushed past Louis, the soft fabric of his coat rubbing against Louis's bare arm.

"Yeah, see you, mate," Louis said in reply, and as Harry walked back down the hallway, Louis watched him, his arm and hand still alight with his touch. 

"Fuck," Louis muttered when he was sure Harry had walked up the steps and was out of range to hear him.  _"Fuck."_

*

"Are they treating you right? Paying you right?" 

"Louis. I am  _seventeen_ , I can handle it," Lottie's expression matched the exasperation in her voice. "And of course they're treating me right! Mum's been checking the money they've been giving me too, I'm in safe hands."

Louis held out the hand that wasn't holding his phone in surrender. "Alright, alright, was just checking. I mean, first job and all, pretty big deal even if you are  _seventeen_." 

Lottie rolled her eyes, though her lips were turned up in a fond smile. He heard Dan's voice through the speakers, heard him calling out to Lottie.

As she turned to face the sound of his voice, Louis watched her profile. The late afternoon sun shone on her, making her blonde hair glow brightly, the makeup on her face making her skin flawless and golden. God, he missed her so much. He missed  _all_  of them, actually. He really needed to arrange a visit a back home. 

He looked around his living room to find his calendar, the one Zayn had made out of recycled paper and pins, each month detailed gorgeously in black ink. The room was washed in sunlight, the pale streams lighting up dust that danced in the air, and Louis was scanning his eyes around, when he saw it.

"What the fuck."

Louis saw Lottie's head whip back around in the corner of his eye, but he ignored her.

This time, the potted plant hadn't shown up on its own. There was a bright pink post-it note pasted on the pot, the non-sticky part dangling dangerously in the wind. 

"Lots," he called out, still eyeing the intruder incredulously. "I'll get back to you in a while alright? Need to take care of something."

"Alright." Louis could hear from her tone that she was confused and slightly amused. "Bye Louis, I'll get Ernie later so you can see him too."

Louis turned back to her then, smiling, and she blew him a kiss through the screen, before she ended the Skype video chat.

He stood up, his footsteps slow as he walked over to his balcony. He blinked as he opened the doors, blinked again as he stepped out, blinked another time as he walked up to the pot, but still, the plant was there. 

He picked up the pot, and he couldn't even care  about the cold metal, all that filled his mind was the blue ink on the note pasted to the pot.

_The plant's not mine!! :)_

And it was such a small thing really, both figuratively and literally- he could have held the pot in one hand- but Louis still felt stubborn, still felt something in his chest that was stopping him from throwing the plant into the rubbish. 

He placed the pot back on the ground and marched back inside to grab his own pad of yellow sticky notes and pen from his desk, before heading back out. Tearing the highlighter-pink sticky note off, he replaced it with his own.

_Well it's not mine either._

With that, he stuffed the pink note into the pocket of his trousers and placed the plant back in his neighbour's home. 

After Louis had called Lottie back and was greeted with the sight of Ernest colouring orange ink into her skin, and after his heart had ached and after he decided to take two days off just before the start of the Christmas holidays to  travel up and spend more time with them, he made his way down to his letter box again. 

So what if he was heading down the same time as he had the previous night? And so what if he had spent an extra minute fixing his hair in the mirror before he headed down? He was just checking his mail- now that Zayn wasn't there to do it, he had to do it more often- that was all. He wasn't hoping to see anyone, really. 

That didn't stop his heart from leaping when he saw a mop of brown curls though, now let down so that they flowed down Harry's shoulders, long and silky and inviting. He hadn't noticed Louis yet, so he walked quietly towards them, playfully jostling his shoulder when he started to open his letterbox. 

"Heyyy," Harry's voice sounded even better than Louis had remembered.  

Louis ignored him, and puckered his lips to hide his grin. It was only when Harry bumped his own shoulder in retaliation did he look over. 

Harry wasn't wearing his posh coat anymore, instead his shoulders were covered by a red jumper that had a-

Louis snorted. "Is that really a reindeer with a bedazzled Santa hat on it?"

Harry looked down at his jumper, then looked back up, and said a bit defensively, "Yeah, it is." 

Louis rolled his eyes to hide how adorable he thought Harry was. "A bit too early for terrible Christmas jumpers, isn't it?"

Harry turned and looked at him then, smiling cheekily. "It's never too early for Christmas jumpers, Louis." 

Louis turned to face him too, his eyes travelling up to Harry's, the green in them dark and turning a bit grey under the yellow light. "Did you actually wear that out?" He turned back to his letterbox and got his letters out, nonchalant. "That's embarrassing, Harold."

Harry giggled delightfully. Louis could feel his eyes roaming over his face as they said, "I did, actually. I'm  _that_  guy." 

"What, you're that guy who wears ugly as hell Christmas jumpers a month early?" 

"Yes," Harry replied, his shoulders straightening in a defiant way. "Two months early sometimes, if it's colder."

Louis's smile broke, and he closed his now empty letterbox, turning to mirror Harry and lean on the copper boxes, so that they were both now facing each other.

"Ridiculous." Harry was  _so_  tall. "Absolutely ridiculous. Was anyone actually walking with you? I can feel the second hand embarrassment already." 

Harry grinned, his eyes lowering bashfully as he reached out his free hand to push at Louis's arm. "Hey, shut up." 

Louis chuckled, ignoring the burn that Harry's touch had left on his arm. "Nah, I'm just kidding. You do you, mate." He reached out to touch Harry's shoulder, warm and broad beneath his fingers. "They're kinda cute anyway."

His hand stayed on Harry's shoulder even when Harry smiled, even when he said, "They are, aren't they? Reckon they'll be a bit big, but I could lend you a few if you want." 

And really, the thought of wearing Harry's jumper, which was probably four sizes too big for him, shouldn't have spread a warm feeling throughout his body. 

He was still holding onto Harry's jumper, stroking the woolen fabric, but Harry didn't seem to mind, and neither did he. "They'll be down to my thighs, probably slipping off my shoulder," he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry's eyes seemed to have darkened when Louis looked back at him. 

Jesus. When had they become so close? Louis was now inches from Harry, and realised with a start that Harry had placed a warm hand on his waist, his fingers stretching so that they brushed the dip of his spine. 

Harry was leaning in now, leaning so close that he went blur in Louis's vision, his breath hitting the curve of Louis's upper lip, but then someone cleared their throat behind them, and just like that, they broke off, the tension sizzling and fading out under Louis's skin so that his entire body felt itchy, alight with something he couldn't scratch to get rid of. 

The person who had interrupted them shot them an apologetic glance as they walked past them, heading towards their own letterbox.

The moment effectively killed, Louis turned to look back at Harry. He was still watching Louis, a slight blush on his cheeks, but eyes still dark with something that made Louis's tummy turn. "I'll just-" he made vague gestures to the hallway, "See you around, yeah Harry?"

Harry nodded, smiling. "Yeah, see you, Lou." 

Louis grinned at the nickname and turned to walk back out into the hallway, his heart still rabbiting in his chest at the thought of what would have happened if that person hasn't walked in, hadn't stopped them. 

*  
Louis woke up the next morning to the thought of berry lips against his own- so sweet and addicting- and to the feel of his chest tightening. 

He got up with a groan, scrubbing his hands tiredly over his face. What did Harry do to him? It hadn't even been anything, it was an  _almost_. Something  _almost_  happened, and maybe that was why Louis felt like he had that one time when he five, when his mum had promised him a day out to the new water park, but they had to stay home in the end, because his father had fallen sick.

Except this was even worse than when he was five, because they had gone to the park two weeks later, but now Louis wasn't sure if he was ever going to see Harry again, if he was ever going to get that close to him again.

With another groan, he walked out of his bedroom, head dizzy with what felt like broken promises.

He really was in no mood to deal with his neighbour and the plant that was once again placed on his balcony. 

Louis groaned for the third time, this time so loudly he wondered briefly if his neighbour would tell him to shut it.

His fucking  _neighbour_. 

With a huff, Louis crossed over to the balcony and wrenched the door open, and even though the morning sun cut across his bare chest and naked thighs, he ignored it and headed straight towards the plant.

He tore the new pink sticky note off the pot, some yellow paint stripping off and clinging to the sticky that had held the note to it.

_Why'd you put it back?_

Louis frowned incredulously. 

He once had a teacher telling him he was too stubborn when he refused to give in and follow the instructions that were set for a piece of homework, instead choosing to fight the rules for no other reason but because he had felt like it. 

He stared at the plant, and really, it was already more than half-dead, Louis could just end it by throwing it away, but for some reason, he didn't, feeling the same unwillingness to back down as he had felt years ago. 

He thought of his mother fondly calling him bull-headed as he shoved the note into the waistband of his pants and dropped the pot back onto his neighbour's floor, the metal plonking on the wooden floors.

He was just about to turn back and head into the warmth of his flat when he heard a door opening, and then a familiar voice calling out to him, "Hey, what are you doing?"

_Harry?_

Louis turned back, and there Harry was, in a soft navy jumper and grey joggers, his hair tucked into a shell-coloured beanie. His face was alert, not rumpled with sleep like Louis's was, and Louis realised that this was the first time he was looking at him outside the light of orange bulbs.

He looked good, the morning sun making his skin pale and glowy, his eyes clear and a kaleidascope of colours even from three feet away. 

"What are  _you_  doing?" He asked in reply.

Louis saw Harry's eyes glance down at his bare chest, to the ink that spread across his collarbones and right arm, to the black pants that clung to his thighs, before they flicked towards the potted plant in the corner. 

"Did you put that there?" He asked, pointing to it. 

Something clicked in Louis's mind. Fuck, his letterbox was right  _next_  to Harry's, how had he not figured it out earlier? 

"You live here? This flat?" He asked just to confirm. Harry nodded, realisation dawning on his face. "Why have you been leaving your plant on my balcony? Which, by the way, could probably do with some fertilisers of more water or something-" 

"It's not mine!" Harry cut him off indignantly.

"Yeah, well it's not mine either!"

"Then why do you keep putting it back?"

"Why do  _you_  keep putting it back?" Louis demanded. 

"Because I thought it was yours!"

"And I thought it was-"

"But I  _said_ -"

"And  _I_  said-"

They both exhaled loudly. Harry's eyes were dark again, and now he was staring at Louis, his chest heaving. Louis was torn between wanting to shout at him some more and kissing him until they were both senseless, dizzy with it. 

And then, for the second time in two days, their tense moment was interrupted. 

Louis's phone was ringing somewhere in his flat. 

"Shit," he muttered. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or grateful for the interruption. On one hand, he was experiencing some sort of déjà vu, and he really wanted to hit the interruption metaphorically around the head. But on the other hand, he really needed to get away, get away from where Harry was still staring at him, lips red and bitten, and so so tempting. 

He shot a last glance at Harry, afraid that if he looked longer, he wouldn't move back into his flat, would just stay there and stare at Harry until one of them gave in.

But he did, he stormed back into his flat and slammed the balcony door behind him, the sound ringing slightly. He snatched his phone from the coffee table. 

A picture of a boy's ear drenched in mustard flashed on the screen.  _Liam_.

"Mate," he said, determined to sound casual. 

"Hey Tommo," Liam's voice replied, warm and comforting. "I was just calling to ask about Wanda." 

Louis paused in his pacing. "Wanda?" He didn't know a Wanda. 

"Yeah you know, my nan's plant? I left it in your flat a couple days ago? Niall was there, told me he would tell you." 

At Louis's silence, Liam continued, "He didn't tell you, did he?"

"No." Niall had not. 

Liam sighed. "So it's safe to say the plant's dead now?"

"Sorry, Li." Louis could feel the slight guilt weighing in his chest, even though he wasn't sure if he was feeling guilty over the fact that the plant was now dead because of him or because he had got into a row with Harry because of said plant. "Anyway I could compensate for it? Buy another one or something like that?"

"Nah, don't bother. My nan's pretty old anyway, she won't be able to tell one of her plant's gone." Liam chuckled fondly. "It's weird though, how Niall didn't tell you. Maybe he forgot or something."

"Yeah." Louis's mind was a mess. "I'll still give him a ring, though. Guilt him into baking me cookies or something."

 _"You?"_  Liam's voice was incredulous. "What have  _you_  done to deserve cookies? I should be the one, or my nan. As an apology."

"Alright, alright, chill out, mate. We'll settle it later, yeah?"  
   
Liam grumbled something unintelligent, though Louis could hear the fondness in his voice when they said their goodbyes.

Once Liam had put down the phone, Louis had half a mind to run to Harry's flat and apologise. He called Niall instead, wanting to get the full story first. 

"Why didn't you tell me about Wanda?" Louis cut off Niall's  _Tommo!_ when the line had got through. 

Instead of hearing the stammered apology that Louis had been expecting though, he heard the sound of a sharp cackle. "Fuck. It's been  _days_ , I was wondering if you would ever figure it out."

Louis's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Figure what out?"

"Does Harry know?" Niall was still gasping for breath. His laughs made Louis's chest feel a tad lighter, even though he was still mostly confused. 

"How do you know Harry?"  _And why didn't you introduce us earlier?_

Niall's laugh was so loud, Louis had to move the phone away from his ear. "Mate, remember how I said I was visiting a friend a couple of days ago?" He didn't wait for Louis's affirmation to continue, "Harry was  _that_  friend."

"Alright..." Louis still did not understand. "I still don't understand how he plays a part in this."

"Louis." Niall had sobered up, although there was still humour lying in his voice. "I didn't  _forget_  to tell you about Wanda. I met Harry, knew you two would take to each other, found out he was moving in next to you, and came up with a genius plan. Brilliant, I must say."

Louis was sure he hadn't heard right. "So you  _knew?_  The whole time?"

"Yup." Niall popped the 'p'. "Pretended to go along with the whole 'oh it's my neighbour's plant' thing, watched the two of you dance like my faithful puppets-" Louis spluttered indignantly. "-just wanted to see how long it would take you lads."

"Yeah?" Louis gritted his teeth. "How'd we do?"

Niall hummed, contemplating his answer. "Took longer than I expected, honestly. Thought one of you would just give up and knock on the other's door. Guess you're both a little stubborn." 

"So what? You just knew that I would think the plant was my neighbour's and not Zayn's?"

"Well, yeah," Niall said, his tone making it seem like it was ridiculous for Louis to even have that doubt. "I know how you think, Louis."

"Right. Yeah, okay, right." Louis really wanted to lie down for a while, just to clear his head. He wasn't sure if he was feeling more annoyed or impressed at that moment. "Right."

"You just said that."

"I know. It's just. A lot to take in." His bedroom was footsteps away. He could probably make it in four, five steps, maybe-

Niall cackled at his distress. "Look. Go talk to Harry, yeah? A proper chat. I know you've met already, he's texted me several times about the 'fit guy at the letter boxes'. Figured it was you."

Louis felt his chest warm at the thought. He was so endeared by Harry already. Harry, who wore Christmas jumpers months earlier depending on the weather. Harry, who had dimples the size of craters in his cheeks. Harry, who was separated from him by a wall. Harry, who needed an explanation and an apology. 

"Fuck. Yeah, I better go."

Niall just ended the call, laughing delightedly. It took Louis about six seconds to move.

He was out the door and ringing the doorbell opposite his before the door to his flat had even swung shut. 

 _Please open up._  Louis really wanted- needed- to explain, get Harry to listen, so that, maybe, hopefully, they could start again. 

It took several seconds. Louis imagined Harry looking through the peek-hole, contemplating if he should open up. The thought made Louis bite the inside of his cheek to stop his smile, more endearing than it ought to have been. 

When he did though, he was still in his red Christmas jumper, his arm holding onto the doorframe in mock casualness.

"Erm," Louis started, suddenly unsure on how to continue. 

"Do you want to come in?" Harry offered, and if Louis' eyes weren't playing tricks on him, he would have thought Harry almost looked hopeful. 

He nodded eagerly anyway, stepping into Harry's flat as he backed away slightly to let Louis in. It was painted a pretty cream colour, a warmer shade than the one in Zayn and Louis's flat, and was filled with knick knacks here and there. It looked so much like a  _home_  that Louis almost forgot Harry had just moved in. 

It was strange to see how everything was mirrored to his own flat, but he somehow found it easier to navigate. He walked to the living room, unsure about where to stand, what he could touch. He had never felt more itchy and uncomfortable in his own skin. 

Harry cleared his throat. He was standing behind Louis, having followed him. A portion of his jumper was tucked in, like he hadn't been bothered to tuck it in all the way, and Louis found that rather adorable.

He crossed his arms, looking awkward, and that was strange because they were in his flat, but Louis thought that if he invited a stranger he just had a bit of a row with into his flat, he would be awkward too. 

Nevertheless, Louis started. "So. Found out whose plant it is."

Harry raised his eyebrows in interest. "Yeah? Whose?"

Louis found himself shrugging as he said, "my mate's nan's." He shot a look at Harry. "Apparently, Niall knew, but didn't tell either of us."

Harry frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that made him look like a cat. "Niall? As in pub Niall? How do you know Niall?"

"How do  _you_  know Niall?" Louis shot back, because Niall hadn't told him how they had met. 

"Like I said- pub."

Louis hummed in understanding. That was how they had met too. 

"But, why didn't Niall tell us? If he knew? Why make us go through all this trouble and confusion?" Harry asked, eyebrows still bent towards the middle.  

Louis sighed. Things were about to get even more awkward if Harry didn't feel the same way, didn't feel the same unexplainable pull. "'Cause he knew that we would both- and I quote- 'take to each other'. So he decided to mess with us a bit. Dunno why he couldn't have just introduced us like normal people, bloody ridiculous, he is."

Harry's laugh was loud and unabashed. "Who even-" His mouth was open and his head thrown back, the lines by his eyes crinkling delightfully. "Who even comes up with a plan like that? It's so risky, shit. Niall, man, Niall."

Louis couldn't help the grin that made its way on his face. Alright, the first part was done, and now Louis had to suck up his pride to do the second part. "But hey, listen mate. I'm sorry about the way I've been acting, the whole passing the plant back to you thing. That was just me being stubborn."

Harry's smile faded, a more sober look taking over his face as he said, "Yeah, me too. 'M sorry too, I mean it wasn't just you being stubborn."

"True. I mean you  _could_  have knocked on my door when I passed you the plant the first time."

"Oi! You could have done the same thing," Harry retorted in indignation, though his lips were tilting up again. 

Louis held up his hands in defense. "Didn't say I couldn't, mate."

Harry laughed, rolling his eyes playfully. Louis couldn't stop looking at him, couldn't stop smiling now that things were cleared up.

"So," Harry said after a short silence. "Maybe we should give it a try?"

What was he even referring to? Louis hesitated for a moment, before he decided to throw caution to the wind and ask, "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"No I'm asking if we should start growing plants."

"Oh."

Harry grinned, wide and bright, and immediately, Louis's frown was wiped away. "I know it's a bit of- a bit of a short notice, but are you free tomorrow?" 

Louis pretended to contemplate this. "Why? What are you planning?"

"Thought I'd invite you over for some arm-wrestling." Harry shrugged. "Or force you to feed me bananas while I lie on my bed or something."

"Is that a euphemism?"

"It is if you want it to be." Harry shrugged again, casually, as if he hadn't just sent Louis's mind running. "So, tomorrow? If you'd like?"

Louis finally smiled, his chest warming with the fact that this was _actually_  happening. "Yeah, I'd like that. "

   
Harry's smile was the sunrise. It showed on his face slowly- the tips of his lips drawing up, the dimples etching their way onto his face, the small crinkles by his eyes appearing... It stunned Louis right to his very core, his entire being going fuzzy. Fuck, Louis was going on a date with this guy.

"Great, erm. Really good," Harry seemed a bit lost for words. "I'll come and get you around four?"

"Yeah." Louis felt giddy. "Oh, do you need my address?" 

"Nah, I think I'll manage. Got some friends in high places, I'll find you."

Louis giggled. The mild shock, then the affection that showed on Harry's face was delightful. "Yeah, like who?" 

Harry schooled his features into careful concentration, but his eyes were still lit like the sun. "Oh you know, Ed Sheeran.." 

"Ed Sheeran won't help you find me," Louis laughed. "But are you serious though, you know Ed?" 

Harry smirked and shrugged. "Maybe I'll bring you to meet him sometimes." 

Louis' heart fluttered. The idea of going out with Harry on more dates, the idea of him introducing Louis to his friends- Louis was in too far. 

"Maybe I'll agree to that." Louis smirked at the mock indignation on Harry's face. He enjoyed this, the banter, the casual flirting. And he would have done it all day, really, except for the fact that he had a pile of essays waiting for him, and seeing as he was going to be busy the next day,  he needed to start marking earlier. "Listen, it's been nice talking to you and all but I kinda need to head back to me own flat now."

"Yeah, yeah 'course." Harry looked like he was perfectly alright with that, but the light in his eyes seemed to flicker just before he glanced down to his socked feet, and then back up at Louis again. "I'll walk you to the door."

Louis snorted. "It's like five steps away. What are you playing at mate?"

Harry rolled his eyes like the answer was obvious. "It's still five steps with you,  _pal_."

Louis didn't argue with that. 

When they reached the door, Harry pulled it open and Louis stepped out, sighing inwardly. Harry watched him, one arm braced against the side of the door, the muscles in his arm straining and bulging wonderfully. 

This time, a little sigh did escape Louis' mouth, and he quickly fiddled with the hem of his shirt to distract Harry. "So." 

Louis didn't know what he was expecting, really. But whatever it was, it wasn't Harry leaning down, slowly but surely, until his nose was brushing against Louis's cheek. 

Louis was sure his heart had actually stopped for a second there. The warm press of Harry's lips against his cheek stuttered it right back into motion. 

Harry leaned back slowly, in the same way he had leant down. There was a pretty blush on his cheeks when Louis looked up, and the corner of his lips had turned up in a shy smile. Louis, however, was still standing there, mouth slightly agape in surprise. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Louis," Harry said, his smile growing more confident with Louis's silence. He turned slightly to close the door then, and in a few seconds, Louis was staring at the wooden door, the imprint of Harry's lips still burning, clouding his mind with warm haziness.

*

Harry knocked on the door two minutes past four. 

Louis made sure his shoes were on, checked his hair in the front-facing camera on his phone for the third time, patted his pocket for his keys and wallet, before he pulled open the door that he had been pacing behind for a good fifteen minutes. 

"Fuck," he breathed. 

Harry's hair was down again, and he was wearing the same black coat that accentuated his body so nicely. His shirt was a soft baby blue, the first three buttons were open once again, and his black jeans had a rip that showed a sliver of his right thigh. 

Louis wanted to lay him down. 

Harry was smirking at him though, and Louis realised he was still standing in the same position, still holding the door open. Embarrassed, Louis quickly stepped out, letting the door shut gently behind him. 

It was just. It was just a bit unfair, really. How good Harry seemed to look always, how he managed to take Louis's breath away every single time. 

When Louis stepped closer to Harry, he noticed a tiny bit of hair that was sticking out. It took him a few seconds to look closer and realise what it was. "You've got a braid in your hair."

"Yeah, I." Harry smiled shyly. "I do." 

The braid was a tiny little one just behind his left ear, almost like Harry had grown bored and decided to french braid a small portion of his hair, and had just ended up keeping it. 

Without thinking, Louis reached out his hand and touched it, felt the silky strands between his fingers. Harry's head immediately turned into his palm. "You're cute, Curly," he admitted. 

Harry nudged the front of his boots with Louis's Vans. "Not too bad yourself." 

Louis laughed, and withdrew his hand, although he very much still wanted to keep a hold on Harry's hair, still wanted to run his hands through the soft tufts at the back of his neck, still wanted to trace the springy corkscrew curls behind his ears delicately. 

They seemed to just stare at each other for a minute, smiles soft and eyes bright. 

Harry seemed to gather a hold of himself after a while though, and he cleared his throat before he said, "Ready to go?"

Louis blinked the Harry-induced daze from his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." 

He followed Harry down the stairs, into the car park at the back of the estate. The wind was barely noticeable today, although the chill in the air made Louis's fingers twitch. 

Harry walked them over to his black Range Rover, standing so close that their elbows brushed with every step. He opened the passenger's door first, which made Louis pat his cheek gently in gratitude as he got in. "Thanks love," he said, enjoying the flush on Harry's cheeks from the pet name. 

Harry closed the door for him, before hurrying over to his side. He got in, turned on the engine, and slow plucks from a guitar immediately filled the car. 

"So Harold," Louis started just as Harry started driving. "Let's play twenty questions." 

"Alright," Harry replied, his hands steering the car confidently. Louis was screwed, he even made  _driving_  attractive. "My name's not actually Harold though." 

"It's fine," Louis said, waving his hands in a dismissive fashion. "Where are you from?"

"Holmes Chapel, in Cheshire. I'm guessing your from Yorkshire?" Harry glanced at Louis to see him nodding his head. "What's your favourite potato chip flavour?"

Louis furrowed his eyebrows amusedly at the question. "Erm, salt and vinegar."

And they continued to go back and forth pleasantly, Harry occasionally glancing over, and he actually turned in his seat when they were at a red light just so that he could look at Louis when they were talking. Louis was reminded of the bright and focused light of a lighthouse whenever Harry watched him. 

The drive took just fifteen minutes, but in those minutes, Louis had learnt that Harry's favourite colour was blue, that he had a last name fit for a pop star, that his voice grew soft with fondness whenever he talked about his family, that he was a third year Law student, and that he always added extra cheese on his Subway sandwiches. 

In fifteen minutes, he had found out so much, yet so little about the boy that was sitting beside him. He wanted to store all the information- the way his eyes had lit up when he talked about how annoying his sister could be, the way he paused between his words, the way the sunlight filtering through the window made the ends of his hair shine golden, the green of his eyes clear and bright- in his heart, so he could mull over and examine every single thing over and over again whenever he could. 

Harry was looking at him though, in that intense way that made Louis feel like he was walking through a blizzard and he didn't know if he would make it out alive. "We're here, Lou."

Louis tore his gaze away from Harry and looked around. They were parked in an open field, but there were several brightly-coloured tents that stood from the ground, and he could see a ferris wheel a distance away, the bright red and gold paint standing out starkly against the pale blue of the sky.

The last time he had gone to a carnival, one of his sisters had gotten sick and they had to go home early. He hadn't been to one in years. 

"Come on then, what are you waiting for?" He patted Harry's thigh and climbed out of the car, the cold hitting him sharply. 

He heard Harry climb out and shut the door behind him, and in a few seconds Harry was standing beside him, grinning. "Shall we get on with it? Or are we just gonna stand here the whole time?"

Louis rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up."

Harry laughed then, sending a warm rush through Louis' belly. They started walking together, arms brushing and white slush crunching under their feet. 

They made their way to the tents and carts, and when their hands nudged against each other's for the fifth time, Louis slotted his fingers between Harry's, the warmth from his palm spreading until Louis' cold fingers warmed up.

Harry nudged his shoulder against Louis', and when he glanced over, Harry was already looking over at him with a small smile. He wiggled his eyebrows, glanced down at their intertwined fingers, looked back up at Louis, and wiggled his eyebrows again. 

Louis let out a short burst of laughter. "Piss off," he said, shoving at Harry's chest with his free hand. "You're so fucking weird, like." 

Harry gasped, a look of mock offence on his face that just made Louis laugh again. "Rude," he huffed, the jut of his bottom lip, distracting.

Louis looked away, unable to hide his grin, and when he spotted a tent with big fluffy soft toys hanging from the wooden panels holding the cloth up, he pulled Harry along by the hand. 

They were supposed to toss rings onto bottles. Louis looked over at Harry questioningly. "Wanna be impressed by some mad skills?"

Harry looked confused. "Is Chris Martin gonna be here?" 

Louis rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth were already lifting, like he couldn't help it. "Screw you."

"Later."

Louis's eyes widened. Harry just smiled innocently though, but his eyes had definitely grown darker. A shiver ran down Louis's spine, and it had nothing to do with the cold. Alright, then. 

He tore his gaze away from Harry's, the air cool on his flushed cheeks. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Louis could hear his smirk even though he wasn't looking at him, was instead paying the girl behind the booth- Jesy, her nametag read- to get three rings. 

"Like you know what you're doing to me."

"I'm doing something to you?" The smirk was still evident in his voice, and his thumb was now tracing circles on the back of Louis' palm. He moved closer, close enough to press the front of his arm against Louis's shoulder blade, close enough to lean down and whisper into Louis's ear like the little shit he was. "What am I doing to you?"

Louis repressed his shiver, and scoffed instead. "Get away from me you cheeky fuck." He shoved against Harry, who laughed and untangled his fingers from Louis's so that he could step back and watch as Louis took the rings and prepared to throw them.

There were rows of green glass bottles, and on several, there were different strings tied to the mouth. Strings of red, yellow, blue, that were meant to represent different prizes. 

"Get ready to be blown away, Styles." 

Harry widened his eyes and nodded in a mocking way. 

The first ring fell short. Louis glanced over at Harry hurriedly, to see him holding back a fond smile. 

"Warming up, I am." Louis stretched his fingers exaggeratedly. 

"I'll warm you up," Harry said, in that infuriatingly cheeky way of his. He waggled his eyebrows at Louis as he looked over, his smile wide and goofy. Louis was on a date with an idiot.

He ignored Harry, instead he tossed the second ring with slightly more force. It landed on a bottle with no string, and judging by the way Jesy was looking at him, he hadn't won anything. He sighed, and turned towards Harry.

He held up the last ring to Harry's face. "You know what to do."

Harry merely raised his eyebrows. "You want- you want me to kiss it?" he asked, unsure.

Louis sighed in mock exasperation. "Yes, Harold, come on now."

Harry leaned forward then, his eyes never leaving Louis's, and puckered his lips gently against the plastic ring. 

Louis remembered how soft those lips had felt against his cheek, how his skin had burned for hours afterwards. How those lips had been so close to tasting his the second time they had met, how Harry's breath had mingled wonderfully with his for those few short seconds, when they had been so close.

He stayed standing there with the ring still pressed against Harry's lips, Harry's eyes dark and intense and boring into his. He felt tension sizzle then, the same tension he had felt the traces of in the air when they had stood on their balconies, facing each other, breaths coming out fast and short. 

Jesy cleared her throat. She asked, amused, "Are you lads gonna continue or snog or what?" 

Louis stepped back, startled. But Harry continued to look at him, his stare making Louis stumble over his words. "C-continue, yeah." 

He faced the rows of bottles again, his fingers trembling slightly. He didn't seem to be able to feel the cold anymore, the heat from the moment before warming him up to the tips of his toes.

He took a breath to compose himself. "Alright, I can feel it. This one's gonna be lucky." He shot a meaningful look at Harry, and when he saw the expression on his face, he quickly took another breath. 

Just as he was about to fling the ring though, he felt a sudden warmth at his side, and a hand pressed against his waist, burning through the  material of his windbreaker and shirt to get to him, to ignite his skin with something that made his hand jerk.

"Fuck." The ring flew off course, skidding against several bottle tops before it finally landed on one tied with a yellow string.

Louis couldn't think though, as Harry was now pressed behind him, his chin resting on Louis's shoulder, his arm wrapped around Louis's tummy. "Ooh look, you got one." His voice was soft in Louis' ear, his lips brushing gently against the lobe. 

Louis had never felt so comfortable with someone wrapped behind him. He wondered if it was normal for two people to be so- literally- wrapped around one another for the first date, especially since they had only properly met the previous day. But he didn't feel uncomfortable, he didn't feel like pushing Harry away, instead, he leaned into him, his back pressed gently against Harry's chest. 

Jesy got up and collected the rings, before turning to head further into the tent. She didn't reach up to grab one of the large soft toys that had attracted Louis though, instead, she came back with a handful of small keychains, little fluffy soft toys attached to them. 

Louis felt his laugh more than he heard it. His chest and shoulders shook slightly, and Louis' back rumbled with it, rumbled with the throaty laugh that was coming from him. He reached, with the hand that wasn't pressed against Louis's tummy, to take the keychain with the lion. 

"Thanks," he said to Jesy, his voice still light with laughter. Jesy smiled fondly at them, before heading back to the chair beside the rows of bottles. 

Louis took the lion keychain from Harry, and examined it closely- the big brown eyes that reflected the fairy lights that hung above them, the tuft of golden hair that was supposed to be its mane, the little metal keychain that was looped through a hole on its back. He thought it was rather cute. Still, he said, "The squirrel was cuter, Harry, what a choice you made." 

They were still standing there, Harry's chest warm against his back. "It reminded me of you," he said. "Looks so tough, but you're all warm and cuddly at heart."  

Louis laughed. He looped his finger through the keychain and turned slightly, his face now inches away from Harry's. "What even. You are so full of it, mate." 

For a moment, Harry smirked like he was about to say something rude, and Louis braced himself for it, but instead, he leaned forward and pressed the side of his nose to Louis's, and kissed the corner of his lips. "Thank you," he mumbled, words muffled against Louis' skin.

Louis felt his cheek warm. He nuzzled against the side of Harry's nose. "You're welcome." He leaned back then, and watched Harry with soft eyes. "Just so you know, I expect to see it attached to something important from now on."

Harry hummed, his gaze fond on Louis's face. He took the keychain back from Louis, fingers brushing as he slipped it from Louis into his palm. He leaned back to attach it to one of his belt loops. "Until I find that something important," he said, in answer to Louis's raised eyebrows. 

They left the tent then, Harry's arm around Louis's shoulders, Louis's wrapped around his waist, his hand tucked into the front pocket of his jeans. He could feel the little lion swing against his fingers with every step. 

They walked until they reached a carousel, a line of kids queueing up beside it. 

Harry looked at Louis then, expression eager. Louis rolled his eyes, but guided them to the back of the queue anyway.

They were easily the oldest ones there, kids and parents alike staring at them with amusement. But Harry was bouncing on his toes, eyes bright with excitement. "I haven't been on one in  _ages_ , Lou. Since I was seven, I think."

Louis gave a low whistle. "Long time." 

"Yeah," Harry faced him, and he looked so much like a child about to go to his favourite sweet shop that Louis resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks and coo. 

"Awww, baby Hazza." His voice was sickening. Eh, he never could resist his temptations that well. At least he hadn't pinched his cheeks, although he wasn't sure how long he could resist that one. 

"Shut up," Harry said, giggling like the over-excited kid that he was. " 'M not a baby."

"Are you really not? How can anyone tell, with those big eyes and soft cheeks?"

"I'm an  _adult_ , Lewis."

"You're at  _most_  a toddler, what are you even talking about?" 

"I'm tall-"

"-some kids are tall-"

"-I'm big-"

"-same thing-"

"-I am  _twenty-one_  years old-"

"-do you still get checked at pubs?"

They were both smiling widely now, gazing at each other with mock challenge. They barely registered the fact that they were now blocking the people behind them, as those in front had already walked onto the carousel. 

It was only when the small child behind them coughed pointedly did they realised. They shuffled forward sheepishly, their arms staying wrapped around each other until they had to separate to take different seats. 

Harry ended up with a pretty white horse, while Louis sat on the chestnut one behind him. When the carousel was full and it started to spin, Harry grinned excitedly over his shoulder at Louis. 

He bopped along to the music the entire ride, his shoulders swaying and hair swishing. Parents of little kids were watching them from the side, but Louis couldn't be bothered to face their stares. All he could do was watch Harry, already way too enamoured with him, and his voice, and his jokes, and the way the sun shone spiderwebs on his cheekbones when it hit his eyelashes.

The sun was already going down in the sky when the ride ended, winter bringing short days of pale sunlight and long nights with white snow that fell like stars. 

They walked further into the carnival, fingers interlocked once again. 

"I still can't believe you've never watched all of the Harry Potter movies. Who are you?" Louis was incredulous. Harry had mentioned it in passing, when they had seen someone wearing a green and silver scarf. 

"Well I never really had the time," Harry defended.   
   
"They're not  _that_  long, we'll watch it sometime. Like, full-on marathon the thing."

Harry grinned. He squeezed Louis' fingers, pulling them closer so Louis had no choice but to stumble slightly into Harry. "I'll hold you to that." 

"Alright." Louis smiled.

"Alright," Harry agreed. 

They walked until their fingers grew slightly numb with the temperature drop as the sun went down, until they found a little cart that sold hot chocolate, until Louis had leaned in to kiss the liquid chocolate off Harry's nose, until they found the ferris wheel, now lit up against the grey sky. 

"C'mon, H." Louis pulled Harry along by the hand towards the stunning lights of the ferris wheel. It was his favourite- he had always felt free, a weird kind of liberation, to be as tall as the sky, to have nothing but the wind surround him, to watch the tiny people below and not worry about anything because he was so high up. 

The first time he had sat on it, he had thought he was going to throw up with the mere thought of the height. His mum had even gotten the plastic bag ready just in case he did. When he had reached the top though, instead of bile rising up his throat, he had felt a lightness instead. He had laughed then, and his mum watched on, a mix of amusement and curiousity, as her son laughed, his laugh as light as he felt. 

Now, he and Harry clambered onto one of the seats, the metal bar holding them in cold to the touch.

"You alright with heights?" Louis asked. As much as he loved it, loved the exhilaration and freedom it brought, he wouldn't have minded if Harry didn't and wanted to get off. 

Harry nodded, though a bit shakily. "Yeah, for the most part. Can't do roller coasters, though." 

Louis frowned. "That's something else we'll have to change." He grabbed Harry's hand again. "Hold on to me then, squeeze if you're scared."

Harry nodded again, his fingers wrapping gratefully around Louis's. 

As soon as the ferris wheel started to move for the next pair behind them, Harry squeezed his hand. 

"Sorry, just a bit startling, that's all."

They moved slowly but surely up higher, Harry's hand squeezing tighter with every sway of their seats.

When they had almost reached the top, Louis thought his hand had gone numb due to the lack of blood circulation instead of the cold wind. "Harry, look," he said, pointing to the sky, where  a portion of the moon peaked out, the stars shining faintly. 

"When I was a kid," he continued, determined to get Harry to relax, "I used to think that Earth had more than one moon, 'cause it was always changing." He glanced at Harry, who instead of looking at the sky where Louis had pointed to, was looking at Louis. His grip was already loosening.

"I had different names for them depending on the shape- the full moon was named Orange, and the half-moon was Omelette, and all the crescent ones were Croissant, because croissants are bloody tasty and deserve to be named after more than one moon." He glanced over again, and still Harry was looking at him. He swallowed and kept his gaze at the stars.

"I remember the day I learned we only had one moon." Louis smiled at the memory. "I was shouting excitedly at me mum about how gorgeous Orange was that night, and she had laughed and explained when I told her why I called the moon that."

"I was confused for days afterwards, couldn't wrap my tiny head around the fact that we only have one moon for a long while." 

Harry chuckled, just as quiet as the sky that surrounded them. "You seem so cute as a child. Man, what happened to you?"

Louis scoffed obnoxiously. "Well, I got cuter, obviously." 

Harry giggled, and when Louis finally turned to look at him, he was still staring at Louis. 

Louis wondered if he had even looked up at all. 

They stayed silent for a while, merely staring at each other, until Harry spoke quietly into the air between them when they had reached the highest point, "Hey, I know it's really cliche and all, but. Can I kiss you?"

Louis instinctively dropped his gaze to Harry's lips, pink and soft by the chapstick he had been applying throughout the date. He could hardly do anything but nod. 

Harry raised his free hand to Louis's head, cradling it in his palm, his thumb brushing the soft spot behind his left ear. He leaned in closer, and though they had already been this close three times before, Louis still felt his breath hitch, still felt his heart skip a beat, still felt butterflies pooling in his stomach and all the other things he had only ever heard about. 

When their lips met, Louis was unsure who was the one who had finally closed the distance. All he could think about was the taste of Harry's lips on him- sweet from the hot chocolate- and the way it felt, soft and warm and pressing gently against his own. 

They broke apart briefly, foreheads connected, and even though it wasn't a heated kiss, their breaths still came out short and fast. 

It was just. Unlike anything else Louis had ever felt, and that might have been terrifying, but Harry made Louis feel like he was flying, like he didn't need to be sat on the top of a ferris wheel to touch the stars. 

So Louis leaned in and pecked Harry once, twice, and on the third time Harry kept him connected, kept him close with his hand on Louis's head, kept him close to lick and suck gently on his bottom lip. 

Louis opened his mouth, Harry's tongue hot and sliding against his own, and Louis was sure this was infinity, was sure that his body temperature had risen a few degrees in the seconds where Harry's tongue met his.

He wasn't aware that he had been clutching onto the lapel of Harry's coat until he pulled it closer, until Harry was as close as he could be on the frozen metal seat, so that their collarbones were brushing and they were tilting their heads to keep their lips connected, to make the kiss better and hotter.

Fuck, Louis's trousers were getting tighter. He pulled away to breathe then, his hand now pressed to the skin of Harry's chest that showed, which rised up and down rapidly against his palm. 

He glanced up at Harry, and Harry was. Fuck, Harry looked  _wrecked_  just from the taste and feel of Louis's lips on his. His face was flushed a delightful shade somewhere between pink and red, his eyes glassy and eyelids hooded as he stared at Louis, his lips redder and rawer than he had ever seen before.

Louis wanted to take him home, wanted to spread him out beneath him, wanted to see how wrecked he could make him with his fingers, with his tongue, wanted to see that flush spread to his neck, to his chest. 

Judging from the way Harry was looking at him, he was thinking along the same lines. 

The moment their seat had reached the ground again, they both leaped up, away from each other, only to crash back into one another behind a nearby tree, the navy sky keeping them hidden under the shadows of the moonlight. 

"Home?" Harry gritted out, backing Louis up against the tree, and nudging one warm thigh between Louis'. 

"God, yes," Louis breathed out. But still, he stayed there with Harry, hips touching and cocks grinding against layers of clothes.

"Fuck, you're so fucking fit." Harry's voice was deeper than Louis had ever heard it, and he was moving to nose along his jaw, his open mouth breathing warm air onto Louis's heated skin. 

Louis whined high in his throat as Harry left open-mouth kisses down his neck, his hips moving in circles and grinding down relentlessly. Louis was so, so hard. 

And fuck, Harry was too, and he felt huge against him, and Louis needed to go  _yesterday_ , so he pushed against Harry's chest until he leaned back, and raised his eyebrows pointedly. He could see his own breaths in the space between them, white puffs of air that came fast. Harry didn't seem to be breathing at all. 

"Home," Louis repeated, his voice shaking with all the  _want_  filling inside him.

But Harry remained silent as he took Louis's hand, and they practically jogged their way back to the car- partly because they were eager and partly because they had noticable tents at the front of their trousers.

When they finally reached Harry's black Range Rover, Louis couldn't resist pushing Harry against the driver's door, couldn't resist leaning in and latching his mouth onto the smooth skin of Harry's chest. 

Harry groaned, his head falling back as Louis sucked and licked his warm skin, until it turned an angry red, and he stepped back contentedly. 

He glanced at Harry's face. His eyes were closed in bliss and arousal, his lips open, and his neck shone silver under the moon. It was very difficult for Louis to lean in and press a chaste kiss on the bruise on Harry's chest, before turning away to walk to his side and get in the already unlocked car.

It took Harry several moments to get in the car himself, like he needed time to regain his composure, like he wasn't sure that if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to make it back to their flats without pulling over on an empty road and drag Louis to the backseat with him. 

The drive back was silent, the tension crackling between them. Halfway through the journey though, Harry placed his hand on Louis thigh, like he couldn't help himself. He kept it there for the remaining drive, and the way his fingers would squeeze randomly kept Louis's cock from going soft, his mind whirring with the thoughts of that hand around his dick, of that hand stretching him apart so wonderfully and thoroughly that he was sure to still feel it days later- 

Louis had never moved faster than he did when they finally reached their estate. 

He shot out of the car, Harry only two steps behind him, and together they made their way up, until they came to the hallway that separated their flats.

"Yours or mine?" Harry asked, his voice still much deeper than normal. 

"Yours," Louis said immediately. 

The moment Louis had answered though, Harry was already turning to open the door to his flat. Louis moved to press close against him, and watched in half amusement and half impatience as Harry fumbled with the keys, much like he had when they had first met.

Finally, the key was jammed in the right way and the door was unlocked and was being shoved open, and immediately Louis was crowding even closer to Harry, and Harry was turning, and capturing Louis in a filthy kiss, mouths already open with want when they touched. 

They fumbled along in the shadows, and somewhere in the back Louis heard the front door slam shut, felt his jacket falling to the floor, felt Harry's bare arms against his palms as he, too, shed his coat, heard shoes and boots being kicked away. 

Yet all he could focus on was Harry. Harry's mouth, Harry's teeth pulling at his bottom lip, Harry's hands wandering and rucking up his shirt so he could slide it off, Harry leading him backwards into his bedroom.

More of their cloths were shed until finally they were standing besides Harry's bed, both dressed in nothing but their pants. 

Louis couldn't keep his hands off Harry's body- he kept them moving, up and down his arms, tracing his neck and shoulders, flittering gently on Harry's honest to god  _abs_. 

Harry also seemed to have trouble controlling his hands. He kept them running up and down Louis's spine, and when he moved them further down to grab onto Louis' bum to pull him closer, Louis couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips.

Harry's hands were  _huge_ , each one was big enough to grab a perfect palmful, and he kept pressing and moulding in a way that made Louis shudder. 

"Bed. Please. Gonna wreck you," Louis mumbled against Harry's lips. Harry whined as he turned so the back of his knees hit the bed, and as he fell back, he pulled Louis along with him. 

They rutted lazily against each other for a while, their lips not even pressed together to kiss anymore, instead they were just breathing into each other. 

Finally, when Harry stuttered out a broken  _Louis_ , he reached down to pull off his own pants, before he moved down, licking and sucking and biting all over Harry's neck and chest and stomach until he reached the waistband of his pants.

With a glance to Harry's face, he pulled the pants down, Harry's cock immediately springing free, hard and flushed and so gorgeous that Louis moaned out loud at the sight of it. Harry shimmied himself out of his pants, and finally they were both naked, nothing between them but particles of dust. 

Louis couldn't help but lean in and take the head of Harry's cock in his mouth, suckling on it  and tasting the precome that was smeared all over. He moaned at the taste of it, at the feel of Harry's cock warm and heavy in his mouth, and the sound of his moan mingled with Harry's own. 

He licked a long stripe along the thick vein that ran underneath, and he glanced up to meet Harry's wide and glassy eyes. Harry was staring at him almost in shock, like he hadn't expected Louis to suck his cock when it was  _right there_ , hard and in front of him. 

He saw Harry grab at the white sheets, his grip so hard his knuckles turned white. 

Louis pulled off from where he was giving kitten licks to the head of Harry's cock. "In my hair. You can place your hands in my hair."

"Oh thank fuck," Harry gasped, and immediately he reached out to slide his fingers through Louis's hair, to grip and to scratch lightly at Louis' scalp. 

Louis continued, taking Harry in his mouth again and sucking in a way he knew made his cheekbones insane, and Harry's stumbled half moan, half curse reassured him that he was doing it right.

Harry was tense all over, obviously straining to not nudge his hips into Louis's mouth, but that wasn't was Louis wanted. He nudged his hand under Harry's hip and lifted it slightly, hoping that Harry would get the message. 

"Shit," Harry breathed, his hips now cautiously fucking up into Louis's mouth. Louis hummed in encouragement, keeping his cheekbones hollowed as Harry started to get into it, his cock hitting the back of Louis's throat so that his eyes started to water, and Harry's groaning got louder. 

His hips were moving relentlessly now, fucking up hard and fast, but his hands remained gentle on Louis's hair, something that made Louis hum in appreciation, the vibrations causing Harry to thrash his legs jerkily behind Louis. 

Louis knew Harry was close when his hips started to lose some of its rhythm.

"Louis,  _Louis_ , I'm gonna come, I'm-" 

And he thrusted once, twice, thrice, and he came in Louis's mouth with a moan, so loud that it seemed to fill all the empty spaces in the room. 

Meanwhile, Louis continued to suck him through his orgasm, greedily swallowing all of Harry's warm come that filled his mouth.

He pulled off with an obscene pop, and he continued to lick Harry's cock until Harry sat up and pushed him away gently. 

"Fuck," Harry mumbled, a little dazed, and then he was pulling Louis up by the chin, and fitting his mouth firmly against Louis's. He licked his way into Louis's mouth, hot and rough, and Louis's still-hard dick twitched at the idea of Harry tasting himself on Louis's tongue. 

"Can you," Harry said, when he finally pulled away, "Can you please sit on my face?"

Louis moaned, dropping his face onto Harry's collarbone. 

"Please, fuck, I just." Harry whined. "Please, Louis." 

Louis was already so hard- even harder now that he had felt Harry's cock on his tongue, had tasted his come- but he seemed to get even harder with Harry's eager pleas. 

"Yeah, yeah, fuck, Harry, 'course." He pushed Harry down gently so that he was lying on the bed, and proceeded to shuffle forward until he was kneeling above Harry's face, his thighs bracketing his head, and his hands holding onto Harry's headboard. 

Harry's hands came to wrap around Louis' thighs. He chanced a look down, and regretted it immediately as the sight made spurts of precome leak from his cock. Harry was staring at him with beads of sweat at his temples, his eyes still a bit glazed over with his orgasm, his lips were bitten and red, and there was that pretty flush that Louis had wanted to see spread to the top of his chest.

Harry kept his eyes on him as he craned his neck forward slightly, so that he could lap up the precome that was now dripping down Louis's cock, curved against his stomach. 

"Mmm..." Harry's eyes closed blissfully.

"Fuck," Louis breathed. Just Harry's kitten licks on his cock made Louis lean forward heavily, and already he felt like giving up. There was no way he was going to survive sex with Harry, no way he was going to survive his eagerness and his  _tongue_. 

His  _tongue_  that felt amazing on his cock, so hard and heavy after so little attention, and that  _tongue_  was about to-

With a groan, Louis tightened his hold on the headboard and shifted back, his cock slipping out of Harry's lips, before he sunk down-

Harry licked a slow, broad stripe over Louis' hole. 

"Oh my god."

Harry licked another long stripe, torturously slow, his tongue flat and warm and teasing and Louis was already gripping the headboard so tightly he feared it might break.

Harry kept at it, long and broad licks until Louis cried out, "Harry, please, _please_."

He quickened his pace the second he heard Louis begging, his tongue now delivering smooth kitten licks over and over again that made Louis groan, banging his fist against the headboard as his thighs begun to tremble with the feel of it. 

It had barely started but Louis was already overwhelmed, already so gone with the way Harry was puckering his lips and  _sucking_ , so gone that he didn't even notice the tears that were welling in his eyes, the sobs that were coming out of his mouth. 

Harry straightened his tongue then, and flicked it teasingly around Louis's hole until, without warning, he licked in, and Louis _moaned_. 

Harry was relentless, fucking into him with his tongue, hot and smooth and it had been so long since Louis had experienced this, so long that he had forgotten just how good it was, just how overwhelming it was. 

Louis was whimpering now, high keens from the back of his throat, and he was moving his hips fast against Harry's face, with absolutely no control at all. His thighs shook with the exertion, but he didn't care, all he could focus on was Harry's tongue, pointed and delving in, and out, only to circle his hole before he licked in again-

He needed to get away from Harry's tongue, he needed to get closer, the pleasure was  _so good_ - 

Harry was enjoying it too, moaning loudly when Louis started to grind his hips down. By now, the skin around his mouth must have been red and sore, yet he kept going, kept making little whines, kept moving his head up and down to follow the rhythm Louis had set, his tongue merciless. 

The sounds they were making- the moans coming from the both of them, the sheets rusting against Louis's knees, the wet sounds from Harry's tongue- enveloped them both, and when Louis came, it hit him hard and left him seeing nothing but stars for a few good seconds. 

Harry had already took Louis into his mouth, was already sucking and licking him clean, but Louis barely noticed. His entire body felt like it was still buzzing. He hadn't had an orgasm this good in a long while, and he needed to lie down, but Harry was still lapping at him, eyes closed and lips raw. 

Gently, Louis prised his fingers from the headboard and moved himself down so that he was straddling Harry's chest instead of his face. His cock slipped out of Harry's mouth, whose head moved forward to follow it, but Louis placed a hand on his shoulder and kept him down. 

"Harry." His voice was wrecked, from both the blowjob and all the sounds he had been making. 

Harry reached up, a soft palm cradling Louis's face as he wiped off a tear that was on Louis's cheek. "Shhh," he whispered, and he manoveyred them so that they were both lying on the bed, face to face. 

Louis leaned in and pressed his lips softly against Harry's. It was like their first kiss, soft and gentle, their lips moving like they were finding each other all over again. 

When they broke apart, Harry immediately wrapped an arm around Louis, who snuggled in closer to fit his head into the crook of Harry's neck. 

"You'll stay?"

And Louis would have told him he would stay forever. 

Instead he said, "Of course."

Harry pressed a kiss onto his forehead. "Good."

*

There was something soft against Louis's face, something that was moving, up and down. 

Louis blinked his eyes open.

For a moment, all he saw was a bed of brown hair. 

Then the hair moved and a face appeared in front of him. 

Green eyes, goofy smile-

"Morning, Lou."

Louis smiled softly. "Morning, sunshine."

He reached out a finger to twirl around Harry's hair, and was surprised to see the little braid still tied behind his ear, messy as it now was. 

"You've still got it."

Harry smiled, and the sunlight filtering in from the window behind them casted long shadows along his cheekbones, his eyelashes fluttering dazily in the manner that meant he had just woken up. "Yeah, I do. Even after last night."

His voice was, expectedly, deeper in the morning. Not like the night before, when it had gone two octaves deeper with his arousal, now it was deep with lingering sleep. 

Louis hummed, his fingers still tracing the braid and the curls behind it. 

It took him a while to realise there was something against his leg. Something warm and  hard and sticky. 

"Are you-?"

Harry blushed. His tired eyes wandered around the room, avoiding Louis' gaze. "It's the morning, y'know-"

"Why's it sticky? And- crusty?" Louis winced at how uncomfortable it must have felt. 

This time Harry looked dead on at Louis, and Louis was not expecting his reply to be, "I got off last night while you rode my face."

Louis was torn between arousal and surprise at how blunt Harry's reply was. Apparently, his body answered for him, as he started to feel his cock thicken up at the thought of Harry coming for the second time, untouched, just from having Louis sat on his face.

Harry smirked at him then, like he knew what he had just done. He shifted so that he was looming over Louis, straddling his waist as he trailed his hands across Louis's chest, his fingertips dancing lightly over the tattoo splayed across Louis's collarbones. 

"I reckon you gave me the best blowjob of my life last night," he said, legs and body shifting down Louis's legs so that he was getting further away from Louis's face, and closer to his hips. 

"I reckon I don't doubt that," Louis replied. Harry rolled his eyes and continued to shift downwards, dragging the quilt with him so that Louis's exposed upper body was drenched in sunlight and gleamed golden. 

"You're such a dick."

"I reckon you rather like my dick."

Harry didn't deny it. "True, almost couldn't keep myself away last night. Would have kept going if you didn't push me back." His cock, standing at attention and very visible, gave a twitch at the thoughts that Harry was having. He sighed then, almost wistfully, as if he was dreaming about what would have happened if Louis hadn't stopped him. 

"It's alright though," he said suddenly. He had shifted all the way until he was kneeling above Louis's calves, his hands on Louis's bare thighs, his thumbs rubbing circles that made Louis's legs twitch. 

Louis was fully exposed now, the quilt so far back that it was only covering his feet. 

"Why's alright?" Louis asked, staring inquisitively at Harry. He really was a true sight in the morning. The sunlight made his eyes glow clear and bright, his skin soft and supple. Louis wanted to hold him. 

But he was smirking now, pink lips stretched over neat white teeth as he looked at Louis. And then, without warning, he leaned forward all the way until he was bent over Louis's lower body, and sucked him all the way down in one swift motion. 

 _"Fuck,_ " Louis swore loudly, gasping as he raised his head and banged it on the pillow in shock. 

Harry moaned loudly, his eyes closed and expression blissful. Louis already knew he was really,  _really_  into sucking cock from his enthusiasm the previous night, but this was. He wasn't even  _choking_  as he bobbed his head up and down, so, so far down, as he enveloped Louis into tight, wet heat. 

Harry dug his fingers into Louis's thighs, and Louis's hips buckled involuntarily. 

"Shit, sorry," Louis apologised immediately, but Harry just whined and seemed to bob his head up and and down faster, his cheeks hollowing as he took Louis into his throat again. 

He pulled off then, and started to pump his hand up and down Louis's shaft instead. 

"Can you fuck my mouth, please?" He asked, voice already shot. 

Immediately, Louis thought of the previous night, when Harry has asked in the same polite manner for Louis to sit on his face. 

"You can hold my hair, tug on it a little," Harry continued. Louis groaned loudly, Harry's voice saying those words sending sparks of arousal down his spine.

He was still working his hand up and down, doing a twist at the head that made little whines escape from Louis's mouth, but he nuzzled his head against Louis's hands instead, asking him again to do it. 

Following his lead, Louis took ahold of Harry's hair and pulled, rather gently, but Harry's hand on Louis's cock still stopped, and he still slumped forward slightly, his moan deep and guttural. 

Fuck, how had Louis not noticed? Harry always had a blissful expression when Louis played with his hair. Of course he would like it as much when he was having sex, probably even more. 

Louis pulled again, harder this time, and saw beads of precome leak out of Harry's cock, heard him whine. 

"Fuck, okay- yeah- alright," Louis stammered. Harry pressed a kiss of thanks on Louis' hip then, and bent low over Louis's cock, now covered in precome and saliva. 

He sucked the head into his mouth slowly, moving his tongue in circles as he went deeper, Louis's hands still nestled in his hair. 

When Harry let out another whine, Louis cursed and slowly started to thrust his hips up into Harry's mouth. Harry's grip on Louis's thighs immediately tightened again, and Louis's thrusts grew faster and less shallow. 

He pulled Harry up by the hair- never too rough- so that he could fuck his hips up better, so that each thrust made his cock hit the back of Harry's throat, so that he was seeing stars every  time. 

Harry's moans were sending vibrations along his cock, and all Louis could do was cry out his name as a warning before he was coming, spilling into Harry's warm mouth. 

Harry swallowed, and immediately, Louis was sitting up and kissing him, pulling him closer so that he could wrap his hand around Harry's cock and give it one, two pulls before Harry came with a cry, his come spilling over Louis' hand.

After, when both of their heartbeats were regular again, Harry lied on the bed as the little spoon, his legs tucked in and framed by Louis'. 

Harry prodded Louis's arm around his waist with his finger. "Hey."

Louis nuzzled into his hair, which smelled like sweat, cinnamon, and Harry. "Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Have lunch with me."

Louis's heart soared just as his stomach rumbled. Dazedly, he remembered that they hadn't had any food after the hot chocolate from the carnival.

"Okay."

Harry pressed his smile against Louis' wrist, his warm lips calming the pulse below it. 

*

Later, Louis will clear out poor Wanda, and Harry will loop the keychain through the handle of the yellow tin pot. 

Later, Harry will meet Zayn and Liam, and after they hear the story of how they met, Louis will ask to send Liam's nan their love. 

Later, the first time they speak of love will be after their first fight. 

Later, Louis will take Harry to a garden full of blooming flowers and propose to him. 

Later, Harry and Louis will have a beautiful wedding ceremony, with yellow tin pots holding bouquets of flowers for centrepieces. 

Later, their first child will ask why they have never thrown that rusting pot away, or why they've never gotten rid of the dirty lion keychain that hangs looped around it.

Later, so will the second. And the third. And the fourth.

But that is all later. Right now, Harry and Louis are pressed together, unsure about a lot of things that have not, will not happen. 

But a yellow pot happened. And an introduction, and confusion, and a realisation, and a touch, and a kiss. And that, for now, is enough to keep them satisfied, to keep them anchored, to keep them breathing in each other. 


End file.
